Retired Teacher Chapter Exec Bd meets gets sad news, Analysis of Texas Dem Primary - Surprise - Real Progressive Won, Is Iran winning?

The Kazansky/Brown race for TRS heating up as hundreds attend an ABC info zoom -- report coming soon. 

 

Respect Means Retirement Security... David Kazansky Mar 7

Monday, March 9, 2026

 

I attended the March 3rd (my birthday) Retiree Teacher Exec Bd meeting on Tuesday after rushing back from a weekend jaunt to attend The Philadelphia Flower Show, the nation's oldest and largest horticultural event, held annually since 1829. Most people I know think that I'm nuts and after attending the meeting I agree with them. 

 

There was an election taking place and I wanted to be there to stand up for the candidate I favored in a 4 way race. (She didn't win.) The RTC constitution gives the EB the right to replace any elected position, though when we try to replace the dozen delegates (out of the 300 we elected), the UFT says we can't -- you know, because they say we can't. We were told by a former Unity delegate that when they ran the chapter and had vacancies, Tom Murphy just replaced them. They make rules up as they go along.

 

The lack of aggressiveness by the RTC leadership only emboldens bullying by the UFT/Unity leadership. I think it goes beyond that and detect some fear by the ideologues in RA of adding new delegates who might not be pure enough ideologically --- but that's only my guess. One RTC Exec Bd member pointed out that adding a new batch of delegates would invigorate our contingent at the DA which has been shrinking to the point of irrelevancy, perhaps the major failure of the RA hierarchy.

 

There was an opening on the RTC Executive Board due to the resignation recently of Daniel Harkavy due to an illness - cancer that seemed to escalate quickly. We found out on Tuesday that he died on February 20, a real shock to many of us who had enormous respect for Daniel for his sense of humor, smarts, and judicious non-partisan advice. I wanted to touch base with him after he resigned and am kicking myself for failing to do so. Daniel taught chemistry at Brooklyn Tech for 26 years. 

 

At the RTC EB meeting last Tuesday, Arthur Goldstein, who got to know Daniel, paid an impassioned tribute to Daniel and followed that up with this post.

RIP Daniel: Daniel Harkavy passes:  Arthur Goldstein- Mar 06, 2026

I'm not sure how Daniel came to be part of the RTC EB - I didn't know him before. He tried to steer a neutral course during the UFT election follies last year, signing petitions for both ABC and ARISE, and attempted to run with both slates but was made to choose by ARISE. He ran with ABC because he felt ABC had the better chance to win but remained cordial with everyone. 

 

When ABC had a petition signing in Bayside, where Daniel lived, he showed up and met Arthur and was introduced to one of our officer candidates who is also a chemistry teacher who graduated from Brooklyn Tech a year before Daniel began teaching there. He was thrilled to meet her. 

 

For someone I barely knew, his passing was especially upsetting because when he posted he was in the hospital I intended to touch base with him as a fellow cancer patient who went through some tough days over the 6 months of chemo. To have been stricken with a deadly cancer at such a relatively young age - he was 63 but count the time leading up to it - is so sad and makes me feel relatively lucky at having reached 81 recently and still be fairly mobile and active. 

 

I barely knew him but will miss him.

 

Daniel was open and respected for openly saying that if he felt ARISE had the better chance he would have run with them. The ABC crew respected him for that view and we felt that if he would have been allowed to run on the ARISE too, he would have gotten 46% of the vote, the highest total of any non-Unity person in history. 

 

I advocated running hundreds of people on both slates and might have actually sneaked a few people in. At some point the people who made that decision for ARISE need to be held accountable. Actually, the entire leadership of ARISE.

 

As to the election for his replacement, as I said, my favored candidate who also ran with the ABC slate did not win and lost to someone who had no connection to the movement we built among retirees over the past 5 years. A very nice guy, by the way. But a message was sent by the New Action/Retiree Advocate dominated RTC EB and the result is not a positive development for a united front in the 2027 RTC chapter election. Details next time.

 

 =======

 

The Texas Primaries

I'm a political nerd and follow both mainstream and alt media.

 

On the broader political front,  I get some of the best political analysis at breaking points, an alt media outpost that includes the left and the right, with the great reporter Ryan Grim and Krystal Ball representing the left. But it's always good to see what the right is thinking, though this is not MAGA right. 

 

I've been getting about 10 messages a day from Talarico -- I want to send him some money, but then I will get 20 messages a day. 

 

Wednesday's discussion of the Talarico/Crockett primary was fascinating and for a deep dive I urge you to check it out: https://youtu.be/5ttTwSR60L0?si=ms2W31EGQwDyprjb 

 

Not knowing enough beforehand, I did not have a dog in the race, other than the sense that Talarico had a better chance to win than Crockett, whose performance-based political acts has never resonated with me. Some view her as squad-oriented but and someone said to me she was like AOC. Far from AOC or the squad, she is more cultural than economic left. And in fact it turns out according to the analysys below that Talarico made the better economic left case.

 

Mainstream media painted the race as the left (Crockett) vs the center (Talarico) and therefore a lesson for Dems to stay to the center. This analysis actually paints Talarico as a sort of left because he ran an anti-corporate Bernie type campaign, albeit with some religious twists while Crocket despite her performativeness actually avoided the wealthy vs the rest of us and was more of a Dem cultural

 

   

 

Republicans already spent more than $71 million to try to push Cornyn over the finish line, according to AdImpact, a media tracking firm. But all that money got him to only 42% in the primary against Paxton, who has been impeached, indicted, and rocked by multiple cheating scandals. 

• The New Yorker: In the Texas Primaries, a Good Night for James Talarico, and a Bad One for John Cornyn  

Cornyn, still the establishment conservative, raised roughly sixty-nine million dollars; Paxton just four million. In the final stages of the primary, the incumbent, still trailing in the polls, released a spot for the ages, which opened, “It’s voting time, so let’s cut through the bullshit. Crooked Ken Paxton cheated on his wife. She’s divorcing him on Biblical grounds.” Paxton’s camp deployed the candidate’s daughter in a last-minute response ad, and called Cornyn “a desperate shell of a man clinging to power.” But, on Tuesday night, neither candidate managed to get fifty per cent of the vote, which means they’ll face off again in a runoff, in May. In theory, Republican voters might have been ready to throw out the last vestiges of the pre-Trump party. But not for Ken Paxton. At least not yet.

Crockett’s challenge to Talarico had less to do with ideological difference than with style—a somewhat repetitive January debate between the two candidates kept returning not to policy but to the question of whether it was better to establish common ground with some conservatives in the hope of winning their votes (Talarico’s position) or simply to rally your side by making clear what you opposed (Crockett’s). Crockett seemed to see enemies everywhere, and closed her campaign lashing out at certain political consultants and reporters. The congresswoman’s team expelled Elaine Godfrey, who’d published a critical profile of the candidate in The Atlantic, from an event for being a “top-notch hater.” The resulting back-and-forth on social media, between the campaign and its liberal critics, consumed much of the race’s final days. 

Who's Winning the Iran War? A surprising view differs from mainstream media from the left and the right.

 

The left view - Ryan X Tim Dillon: https://youtu.be/3lTk2SOHeVM?si=TR1ZbwOmoACNLiI5

The right view from Saagar and Tucker on Iran winning - Saagar X Tucker: https://youtu.be/Dl78cDjOIRM?si=CTGDRVtSzXWTJYSJ

 

 

Cults: Unity Caucus Channels Republicans as UFT Delegate Assembly Echoes Trump State of the Union,TRS Election Adds Another Purged Unity Defector

Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026

Watching the Republicans leap up for joy at every Trump lie and bit of misinformation at the SOTU brought echoes of recent UFT Delegate Assemblies where we see a similar reaction from (fake) jocularity from the Unity Caucus cheering committee. The longest SOTU and most boring speech in history reminded me of some of Mulgrew's long-winded reports at the DA.

There was no better example than the Feb. DA where the main item was the endorsement for TRS of Unity candidate Tom Brown as one Unityite after another rose to give praise - and oh the cheers when the vote was taken to endorse him. Oppo people, like the Dems at the SOTU sat on their hands. There just weren't many of them and even for those who were there, there was no coordination. More and more oppo people are just not bothering to attend -- a boycott of sorts, like the Dems who stayed away from the SOTU. 

The only group that had a strategy - sort of - was ABC people, but I was lukewarm to not opposing Tom Brown on the grounds he was one of 3 Unity shills who would do whatever Mulgrew tells him to do. The argument for David Kazansky is that he would now be an independent voice - and yes, for 9 years he was a union leadership voice - publicly - but I suspect behind the scenes he was willing to ask questions about the fees we were paying, the role of private equity and investment strategy.

MORE on the whole has never felt the DA was an important venue. And the vaunted 300 Retiree Advocate delegates that replaced the Unity 300 in the June 2024 supposedly game-changing election which has not changed the game very much have been disappearing from the DA in droves, thus negating the impact of that election. MORE claims 100 DA. members but few show up, so the Unity staff and loyalist CLs dominate the room. Remember ARISE? No signs anywhere that they are alive since the embarassing 14% vote in the 2025 UFT election.

Even I, an over 50-year DA attendee, even when I wasn't a delegate, no longer see it worth it to hand out leaflets. I like to attend for social reasons to schmooze and  hang out with my pals.

The real changes in the UFT are happening underneath the covers and I am glad to be part of the various fragments of people connected to ABC. 

Mulgrew helps build the new opposition in the UFT

 

What the hell is happening at the UFT that 2 former pension reps are challenging the Unity candidate for TRS rep? 

 

Former UFT special rep Frank Panebianco is joining former 9-year Teacher Retirement System rep David Kazansky, pushed out of the job by Mulgrew two years ago and fired last June, in the race for TRS rep against Unity loyalist Tom Brown. Panebianco was among those staffers fired by Mulgrew. 

 

Is he a plant by Unity to divide the oppo vote? The guess is he is not but genuinely pissed off at the leadership. Is Unity cheering his candidacy against David? I'm thinking not as he is popular and  may well draw votes from Unity and turn this into a 3-person race. And of course David is popular in Untiy and will also draw votes. In a secret ballot, no matter the pressure from the leadership, there will be defections. Unity may punish district reps who don't turn out the vote -- we get a post-election report on the vote breakdown for every school. The key for Kazansky is to build a strong network of schools that will vote for him - right now there are 6 weeks to get 1000 signatures for each candidate. He has a shot at winning no matter what, but even if Brown wins the network built in the campaign can be used in the future. 

 

That two long-term Unity pension experts have challenged Unity candidate Tom Brown is indicative of the same kind of cracks we have been seeing in Uniy over the past few years. The massive retiree and para oppo wins in the 2024 chapter elections were clear indicators - the removal of Amy Arundell from Queens started a trend and her ability to bring some serious elements of Unity along with her in last year's union election has created a potential new oppo block in ABC outside the usual caucus suspects. 

 

Despite the firings by Mulgrew last June, while scaring some of Unity back into the fold, has still left some people seething. (One well-known school-based Unity recently declared privately "I'm done with them." Are they ready to be openly part of an oppo group like ABC? That may take some time and also depends on how capable ABC looks over the next few years. And don't forget that Unity 54% vote in the election. It takes some time for people who have been in a cult to wean themselves off. 

 

This look good for Unity - short term on the surface - but many of these people have actually learned some organizing skills, albeit in the rigid confines of Unity. But once freed, the creativity flows and excitement at the freedom grows. It is up to the legacy oppos to figure out how to join forces if they want to defeat Unity. There is a soft strucrure in place within the ABC coalition by the alliances built in last year's election and ties that bind continue to be built. 

 

Learn more about David at WeTrustDavid.org 

 

The Mulgrew reign of terror may work to keep staffers in fear and in line but the firing of well-liked and competent people also sends a message and degrades the structure from underneath. The firing of District 30 rep Ashley Rzonca has riled chapter leaders and rank and file in the district and is creating a cloud of resentment that will ultimately morph into open opposition. I never knew Ashley until she was fired last June and have come to see her abilities in various strategy sessions. 

 

Then there is Pissgate where a photo of Amy was placed in a men's room urinal at the Delegate Assembly and the culprit wasn't found despite months of investigation by an outside lawyer and despite cameras. 

 

There is a lot of residual fear and loathing of Mulgrew and his administration throughout the ranks. LeRoy Barr's retirement and the flippant way he announced it at the January DA that surprised Mulgrew won't help as he was able to keep many of the troops in line. Will LeRoy loyalists begin to jump ship too? He is still in charge of Unity Caucus so he will be a factor. Some say the simple solution for Unity is to replace Mulgrew and some see the Mike Sill rise as a solution. BTW- Mike was once a protege of Amy Arundell who was his boss. 

 

The woim toins.

 

Do you want to build your caucus or do you want to win an election? That was a question asked of leaders of the RA caucus and unfortunately it looks like caucus first. The same with NAC and MORE -- they will gladly take 14% of the vote forever as long as they can control their caucus. At a recent meeting one non-UFT person told me "it's all about control - having power in a small fishbowl." 

 

If the legacy caucuses wake up and join a movement like ABC, Unity would be in trouble.

 

 

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talk-out-of-school/id1490313171?i=1000751049681 

 

David Kazansky speaks about the responsibility of the TRS Trustees.

https://wbai.org/archive/program/episode/?id=63921

A substantive, no-spin conversation about retirement security for NYC educators and retirees. 

 

Former three-term TRS Trustee David Kazansky.was interviewed by Daniel Alicea on WBAI in part 1 of a 2 part interview on Sunday. 

 

• David’s storied career as an educator, unionist and trustee

• What really happens inside the TRS boardroom

• Private equity and pension transparency

• Fiduciary duty and divestment

• Tier 6 and what reform would actually take

• The upcoming TRS trustee election — and what’s at stake

Part 2 also drops here next week and will be aired the next time Daniel hosts Talk Out of School.

Let’s stay informed.

— Dan Alicea

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Learn more about David at WeTrustDavid.org

---

 

 

UFT Exec Bd Update: Kazansky Announses for TRS, LeRoy says Goodbye, Sill Replaces Him, Tom Brown Endorsed for TRS

I was trying to write this up last night but was seduced by the Olympics. Tonight or tomorrow morning I will report on the 1PM RTC Exec Bd meeting which I am leaving for ASAP. Oh, and before I forget - they served shrimp scampi last night.

Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026, 12:15 PM

Leaving my warm and cozy Rockaway abode, I reluctantly attended only my second exec bd of the school year last night because I had an early appointment at MSK to have my port flushed. I love a port flushing and if you don't know what that means, you're lucky. It was a brisk 15 block walk from my apartment but not that cold. I walked back downtown through Grand Central where I had coffee and an almond croissant before stopping at Neuhaus chocolate for a Valentine gift. Now that I've taken care of the important stuff, here is a report on the info-packed UFT Exec Bd. meeting last night.

LeRoy Barr made an appearance and was greeted warmly. I posted Rebel Teacher's analysis where the author surmised LeRoy was pushed out in a dispute with never teacher Ellie Engler who was backed by Randi Weingarten. Or possibly LeRoy just got sick of dealing with the lunatic fringe at 52 Broadway. No longer being a member of the UFT Exec Bd, he spoke from the mic in the ten-minute pre-meeting time. He followed former TRS pension rep David Kazansky, who was pushed out of the position two years ago when he was in Unity, but is now running as an independent and was endorsed by ABC. 

• Kazansky announcement. 

• A Better Contract-UFT unanimously endorses David Kazansky for NYC TRS Trustee; Ben Morgenroth tapped as alternate: We must put rank and file educators back in charge of $130 Billion pension fund. David Kazansky is the real and only choice.

David, who is back teaching 5th grade in the Bronx, was also greeted warmly by his former Unity comrades.  To learn more, visit: http://wetrustdavid.org

 

LeRoy enthusiastically endorsed his successor, Mike Sill and said there have been only 10 Secretaries in the history of the UFT, the longest running being Jules Kolodny under Shanker - yes, Virginia, I'm old enough to have been there when Kolodny was Secretary. I'm sure Mike Sill is looking forward to breaking Kolodny's record. The betting line on Sill being the next UFT President immediately went up at Kalshi.  Get your bets in now.

Speculation began on who would replace Sill as Assistant Secretary, a road to UFT President in the past (Randi and I think Sandy occupied that position). Some said Mary Vaccaro who is already a member of AdCome and would also need replacing. Others are thinking more widely. One dark horse: Emily James, who is serving her first term on the Ex Bd as a high school rep who no longer teaches but is based at 52 as a key Mulgrew advisor. 

The other issue that came up was the endorsement of Tom Brown to run against Kazansky for TRS rep that will come up at tomorrow's Delegate Assembly where expect the Unity crowd to immediately start petitioning as soon as the endorsement goes through. Some David supporters will be there to petition for him. IMPORTANT NOTE: Anyone who signs both petitions will have their sig cancelled. One thousand sigs are needed but it pays to get double because there will be cancellations. There has been only one TRS election in the past 40 years - that was 2 years ago when Ben Morgenroth ran. ED NOTES covered that election.

• May 8, 2024, Vote for Ben to End Unity Monopoly of Pensi... 
• TRS Election Issues as Both Campaigns File Protest...
• Hundreds of TRS members with no ballots and the Al...

Unity Caucus sent out this update at 8PM, one hour after the Ex Bd endorsed Brown:   

The Unity Caucus Steering Committee met and voted to recommend endorsing Tom Brown for another term as trustee of the Teachers’ Retirement System. That recommendation was then brought to the full Unity Caucus membership and just after 8:00 p.m., members voted to endorse Tom Brown.

I guess they had to mimic ABC. It's nice to see Unity no longer hiding that they exist as a machine to run the UFT.

 

After the meeting I congratulated Sill and Barr, both of whom I like personally and have had a good relationship with. LeRoy mentioned that in his Facebook post with his pics, he made sure to include the late Ellen Fox. He also said he disagreed with Rebel Teacher's analysis that he was pushed out. I said I didn't totally agree either - I think Unity (which LeRoy headed) will miss him as will the UFT and his retirement weakens the machine. But on the other hand, I think in the short term the Mulgrew repression and firings and threats has brought people into line in maybe stopped the Amy Arundell like defections. We will see. 

 

and I could see the case for his leaving at this time though did mention that some couldn't understand why someone so relatively young and making so much money would give it up. "Living life," he said. "They say you should have the same number of retirement as working years." Hmmm. That's a tough one - I need another dozen years. Maybe LeRoy will make it. I asked why he wasn't at the RTC meeting last week and he said he will be there in the future. Some think he might be a candidate for Ch ldr against Bennett Fischer next year. If LeRoy is serious about retiring it makes no sense for him to take on that position. The Kalshi betting has been on Sterling Roberson, with a minority going for Leo Casey, who is not loved within Unity but is spending his time attacking Marianne Pizzitola who is a hero even to some Unity after saving them money. 

 

Read her latest response to Leo:

There is one highfalutin blogger named Leo Casey who insists retirees are in unions. And not matter the case law, the PERB or OCB cases, City, State or Federal we post against that theory- he resists. This is not debatable; retirees are not in union collective bargaining units. They are in retiree chapters like auxiliary members and their own bylaws show that their DA can vote with the support of their Executive Board as to whom can be included - but they are not full members. Even though retirees can vote - not every retirees’ vote counts as ONE full vote per person of more than 23,500 retirees vote as Arthur my retired union brother wrote yesterday in, “Are We Union.” The reason he fears the UFT losing the support of retirees is money. It’s why Leo attacks our organizations’ grassroots funding, our legal strategy, and the support we have because we are literally front and center fighting for retirees. Leo cannot say that about the UFT, like I cannot say that about DC37. This will be a future post very soon!

So let’s dive into history.

 

Some UFT History and the Retiree Connection

Marianne Pizzitola Feb 10

Inside UFT Update: Unity’s Grip Weakens as Members Are Left Behind - By Rebel Teacher

This anonymous missive dropped over the Ed Notes headquarters' transom. I don't agree with all of it but am too lazy to go into the details. I will comment in a future post. I did some light editing to smooth out some edges.

 

Unity’s Grip Weakens, Members Left Behind! 

By Rebel Teacher 

 

February 2, 2026

Leroy Barr Abruptly Out— 

  

Leroy Barr, long-time Staff Director and head of the Unity Caucus, suddenly announced his retirement at the last DA, saying it would be his last one. No warning. No fanfare. Just poof, gone. Even Mulgrew expressed some surprise at the time and place of the announcement. 

 

Behind the polished speeches, the Unity leadership machine has been showing cracks going back to the major Unity defections in last year's elections where Unity received 54% of the vote, the lowest in history. Mulgrew responded, like the authoritarian he is, with firings and threats.

Was he pushed or did he jump?

LeRoy Barr was considered a powerhouse in the UFT, one of the three men in the room along with Mulgrew and Mike Sill, with many considering Barr as a possible successor to Mulgrew. So his sudden retirement came as a shock given his relatively young age and high level position - and his salary. Speculation began soon after his announcement as to whether he was going willingly or was pushed. 

 

There have been leaks about internal conflict at the top levels of the UFT to the extent that even ex UFT president and current AFT President Randi Weingarten intervened, not on the side of Barr, thus leading to his leaving.

 

Purges are designed to use fear of going back to the classroom for full-time UFT employees and loss of income to part-timers as a method of control while attempting to manage the membership. If a certain age, retirement is an option.  

 

Membership interests ignored as Leadership get the perks and Members get the short end.

 

For everyday members, this is just another reminder that Unity’s leadership engages in internal power plays while the members suffer.

Meanwhile: The promised Para Pay is still a mess and Tier 6 reforms are stalled.  

LeRoy Barr has been a leader of a prominent African-American contingent in Unity, including officers Janella Hinds, Karen Alford and Leo Gordon, and the influential Anthony Harmon, among others. But with the subtraction of Barr, the real decision-makers in the UFT comes down to Mulgrew, Emily James, Mary Vaccaro, Mike Sill and non-UFT member and never a teacher, Ellie Engler, who seems to have won out in her battle with Barr. Racial dynamics tend not to be subtle. 

Members are right to ask who really runs this union, whose voices matter, and whether the broader national attack on DEI and racial equity is creeping into UFT decision-making. When leadership won’t answer these questions, distrust fills the vacuum.

Bennett, Fischer, and the Retiree Chapter

UFT Retiree Chapter Leader Bennett Fischer, and the Retiree Advocate caucus which took power in the last chapter election continue to struggle as leaders of the chapter. Instead of going to the members, being transparent, and using their position to expose Unity’s mismanagement, they close ranks and hope Mulgrew tosses them a few crumbs. Their decision to run in the UFT general election with the ARISE coalition, instead of being neutral, led to a split among retirees that has still not been healed. They’re supposed to build power for retirees—but instead, they seem to fear Mulgrew and Unity retaliation if they get too militant in challenging them. Instead of reminding retirees at every opportunity that the Unity retirees worked hard to move them out of Medicare and into Medicate Advantage, they play footsie with the leadership even when they are pushed around and instead of going public write strongly worded letters, ala Chuck Shumer and the Democratic Party.

The year and a half old retiree chapter leadership seems to be exhibiting the same pattern we see in Unity: secrecy, closed-door meetings, and a focus on protecting the RTC leadership from criticism, rather than fighting for those who elected them. Some RTC members are getting increasingly restive, while leadership scrambles to preserve its control with performative feel-good virtue signalling resolutions.

TRS Teachers Trustee Election: Time to Stand Up

 

Here’s where it gets interesting.

 

In last May's union-wide election, Unity won with 54 percent of the vote, their lowest total in history, not exactly a mandate. Just as we watch the outcomes of bi-elections, like the recent Democratic win in Texas in a district where Trump won by 17 points, a 34 point flip, we also have elections in the UFT that can be a sign of member sentiment. And don't forget the massive shift in the 2024 retiree chapter election where Unity dropped from 70 to 37%. But if the RA/RTC leadership doesn't get its act together, this margin won't hold and Unity threatens to regain control.

 

The UFT elects three members to the Teacher Retirement System to three year terms with a member being elected every year in early May, with the election being run in the schools by DOE, not UFT, rules. Unity has controlled all these positions for decades with no opposition. There has been only one election and that was two years ago. Last year Unity petition challenges managed to get the opposition candidate knocked off the ballot. This year promises to see a serious campaign and the outcome will be a serious sign of just how much Unity's grip has weakened. Look for announcements in the coming days.

Questions we should be asking:

Will A Better Contract run a candidate?

Will independent members finally push back against Unity’s control?

Will ABC, New Action, and MORE work together for the betterment of our union?

This isn’t just another vote—it’s a chance to say enough. Unity can’t keep running things behind closed doors while members get ignored.

Bottom Line

Unity leadership keeps purging, scheming, and protecting itself. Meanwhile, members lose out on pay, benefits, and even basic wins. The cracks are showing—and the upcoming trustee election could be a significant moment where members take back some control.

If leadership won’t represent members, maybe it’s time we elect people who will.

A Tale of Two Meetings - Plus Two More to Come - OY!

I'm getting more interested in the snacks than the agendas at the DA and RTC meetings.

Wednesday, November 19, 2023

Today is a Delegate Assembly (HO) and tomorrow is a Retired Teacher Chapter (HUM) meeting  and I have no interest in handing out a leaflet, a rare occasion for me. I'm going to both but less and less I hold these meetings to be as important as I once held them to be. I'm more interested in the snacks than the agendas and I give props to RTC officer Michele Ravid for improving the snacks at the RTC meetings by 200% over the Tom Murphy regime. See, there is value in winning elections.

The ABC organizationally has not put a lot of organizational energy into the DA, though some individuals have.

To outsiders, A Better Contract seems to have gotten off to a slow start this year. After a brutal election campaign, people needed a rest. I appreciate some of the thoughtful discussions in trying to find some structure that keeps the idea of a loose affiliation of individuals, but looking for ways to act as an organization when necessary. 

I'm somewhat on the fringe of ABC, more observer than activist. 

There is still a lot of interest in ABC as demonstrated when ABC held an open mass meeting a few weeks ago and 1000 registered and hundreds attended. 

So, last night a quick (45 minutes) meeting was held to talk about the working groups -- and 

Last night I attended a quick (45 minutes) meeting of those who attended the mass meeting and volunteered for various working groups - a bottom-up structure that fulfills a member-driven agenda. If some people don't find a working group they are welcome to start one. I love that sense of freedom. There is also a need to have some way of touching base between the working groups and I have confidence in the people who are doing the work. Someone always seems to pick up the ball. If a ball doesn't get picked up that is a sign of lack of interest. One unstated rule -- no gnashing of teeth.

As long as the groups adhere so some basic member-driven principles driving ABC, they have autonomy to act as they see fit with no central body to answer too. After decades of working with caucus top-down organizational structures, it was a breath of fresh air that satisfies my libertarian mentality which so seems to rile some of my comrades in other groups. 

As I rummaged through my basement recently I came across materials from groups I worked with in the 70s when we had a loose confederation of school and district level groups. Even the ICE/UFT group of 2003-10 had no organizational structure, something that drove some of the more politically oriented people, who have a built-in need for top-down organizing, crazy. 

It was made clear that we were not there to talk about elections or caucuses or share gripes but to move forward. It was reiterated that ABC invites any individual, whether in a caucus or not, to work with us. If a caucus wants to talk, ABC will do so. 

Chad Hamilton, a CL in Brooklyn chaired the meeting from his car - he wasn't driving at the time - I think. Super multi-media champ Leah Lin, a CL from D. 30 in Queens, is also playing a major role. These are mid-level career classroom teachers, as are most of the players. 

As a retiree, I believe we need to play a secondary role in ABC and not make our issues primary. There is a retiree working group to focus on those issues and I will play a role with them.

I found the meeting exciting and looking forward to working with so many interesting people. 

A Tale of Two Meetings

Monday night Retiree Advocate organizers held a meeting and spent an hour discussing how to moderate the listserve and who should moderate the listserve (I am one of 4 moderators) with the goal of controlling attacks on Retiree Advocate. If any of the moderators object to a post, it will not go up.

Hmmm, I wonder if this one will go up without objection. Maybe I'll object to my own post.

 ----

A bit of good news. It's been a tough few days waiting to get my 6 month scan and blood test for the tumor marker. Though the marker went up 2 points to 34 (below 40 is normal) it was 230 when I was first diagnosed, my scan came back Ok just as I was finishing this. So expect to put up with me till the next scan.

 

Elections Have Consequences: PR Blitz to Breathe Life Into Mulgrew, Make UFT More Responsive (finally), Unity Tries to Avert Defeat

Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024

The recent Unity major losses in elections has created a sense of panic in the upper halls of the UFT, and some shake-ups. At the AFT convention in Houston in July Staff Director LeRoy Barr lectured the staff, blaming them and absolving leadership, telling them the opposition was well organized and coming for their jobs and they better start campaigning immediately. 

Calling the opposition well organized shows how much LeRoy doesn't know - but I actually have faith that LeRoy knows the opposition real well and was just blowing smoke to scare the staff into worrying about their jobs. (Don't worry boys and girls, those who actually do their jobs instead of being Unity shills will be safe if the oppo wins.)

So, the best thing Mulgrew has going for him is the state of opposition. But expect a Unity full court press- like this:

Need someone to talk to? We're here

I think of the Reagan comment about government and we're here to help. After decades of not helping,  Unity lost an election and now wants to help? But do they even remember how?

Mulgrew never takes responsibility and puts blames on others

Mulgrew supposedly reamed out the staff before school started and shook up the hierarchy. Anthony Harmon is off to NYSUT and Ellie Engler has been brought back to be co-staff Director in his place. Where does that put LeRoy Barr? Probably not in the dog house with Mulgrew's dog, but Mulgrew may have ordered him to get rid of his cat if he has one so as not to come on a certain VP candidate's radar. Is Mulgrew blaming LeRoy or his cat for the recent big election losses? Mike Sill, who I like (the kiss of death) has moved into something or other. Insiders say morale has sunk at 52 where people see these moves as moving deck chairs. 

At a staff meeting, staff actually received copies of the Labor Notes, "Secrets of a Successful Organizer," a bible on the left, especially in MORE where for years I sat through bouts of the same Labor Notes training where we were told to keep a tally sheet of our staff, something I managed to figure out on my own in the 1970s. After all that training I didn't notice an enormous uptick in organized schools in the last election, but if you want to see a preview of the lessons your beloved UFT rep will bring to your chapter, see the list at the end of this article - and even read up to prep for their visit -- and be ready for How to Be a Good Listener.

See how well they listen to you and how they tell you they can really do nothing about your principal.

So what irony that Unity is trying to emulate the "successful" organizing of MORE,  a caucus in its 14th year of existence and not in a position to run head to head against Unity - and never will be no matter how much Labor Notes training they undergo. 

Thus MORE may be forced against its will to work with other caucuses and groups in a potentially winnable year, though I imagine from my last days in MORE when I pushed back against those who wanted to run not to win that there is still a faction that either wants to run alone (the Greta Garbo group) or not run at all. The latter is ironic since I was one of the few voices in MORE's first election in 2013 urging MORE not to waste resources on running and use the time to build its infrastructure as a new caucus, one of the many battles I lost in MORE. In the decade since, MORE did build infrastructure, but given the size of the school system, it's still a blip. Maybe next decade. 

What's left of UFC? New Action and Retiree Advocate and maybe MORE which is still deciding

The other main strands of the opposition is a resurgent New Action back from the 2019 dead and the new king of the hill, Retiree Advocate, whose victory and 300 delegates are game changers in the UFT. They may be the heart of the oppo movement this year. I will have a lot more to say in about a week on where the election movement stands at this point.

ICE is an open end discussion group -- a listserve and a dormant blog - but we did zoom Sunday night to discuss the state of the UFT election. Always a great and eclectic group of people that ICE attracts. I always come away from an ICE event feeling better -- a reason to keep us getting together where we hear some of the smartest analysis.

Solidarity is trying to make a claim but has internal battles and I maintain without the force of Lydia's personality and leadership it can't be more than bit player -- but watch the squawks of some of them claiming equality with the other caucuses. Squawk away since one of the requirements may be for caucuses to show they are legit by showing at least 25 CL and delegates as proof they have people who can get elected in their own schools.

So fundamentally, the hope from the UFC coalition from the 2022 election would have opposition infrastructure in place for this election died soon after the election ended when MORE lost interest and the rest of the group drifted. That UFC in essence died is the best friend Unity has in its chance of winning as those wanting to defeat Unity were set back to ground zero. 

Unity will flood the schools with staff offering to help and Mulgrew promos, but will that help or hurt?

Unity relies on a chain of command -- central - borough- district - school Unity and associated CL to get the message to members. Even in the 2022 UFT election, the Unity vote totals dropped as most rolled their eyes at the glossy flyers. The problem for the oppo was that the members also generally rolled their eyes at them too. The goal for the oppo this time is to turn those lonely eyes to them if they expect to win. And to vastly expand he base from the usual caucus suspects. I ruminated on this point on Aug. 7:

• What it will take to Change the Leadership in the 2025 UFT Election? Build it and they will come, and if they don't come be very worried

Expect many visits from your District and borough special reps. But also expect most people to yawn. There are weak links in this chain - some clueless Dist reps and most importantly, a waning loyalty at the school level from the Unity faithful. Seeing the possibility of the opposition actually winning next year, some in Unity "light," as they are known, may be rethinking their options. Why not give up your paltry after school patronage job and sign up with the oppo to get an early foothold?

The weakest link in Unity is still Mulgrew himself.

Reports from UFT Chapter Leader training, Aug 28:

It was like a bad PD, person after person talking and I zoned out;

they meant well but they lost the new people like me....

Mulgrew’s rambling about cell phones. It’s not coherent - but maybe that’s because I’m starving. Now he’s talking about “we don’t always go Democrat in fact maybe we will vote Republican one day.” Now he's talking what why it's not that big of a deal if they get rid of the Dept of Ed at the federal level...Aside from the minor detail of civil rights being violated all over the nation, what could go wrong? Thinks ranked choice voting is stupid and dangerous... Elizabeth Perez gave him this big intro and said “he has squirrels in his head” and I can’t stop laughing.... Squirrels in his head would explain a lot. Sounds even worse than RFK Jr.'s brainworm.... Michael droned on and on and talked about how a high percentage of teachers get cancer. The whole thing was awful. And then asked who wants time for questions? No one raised their hand. Who wants to leave? The whole room...MM is the Manchurian Candidate

Oy! Mulgrew so Trumpian and is fundamentally a Republican, so I'm not surprised -- he probably wished he had been invited to the Republican convention. By the way -- while the AFT and NYSUT have geared up to back the Dem ticket, the usual UFT political operation has been dormant until recently.

At one point people believed Mulgrew might be replaced. In the last election two years ago they hid Mulgrew with no photos of him on their leaflets (in contrast to the 2019 election when his photo was all over the place). Then came the disaster of last spring's chapter elections - we know the para and retiree results, but have little data on the school levels -- how many Unity were replaced? How many activist CL and Del were elected? I hear MORE caucus claimes over 100.

If Mulgrew were to be replaced that would have happened already to give the new person some serious time as an incumbent, so that train has left the station. Some think he would take something in the AFT but he's a fish out of water there. And besides, Unity doesn't have a very big bench. Like who can replace him? See if you can come up with potential replacements.

Here are some promos for Mulgrew for your joy of reading.

From congestion pricing to Medicare Advantage, the politically nimble leader of the teachers union seems to always come out on top, Bob Hennelly, City and State.... WTF

 

How about this puff piece from City & State?

Michael Mulgrew: “Shrewd Political Instincts and a Willingness to Pivot”

Class politics

* United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew’s political flexibility has enabled him to almost always come out on top when it comes to the most contentious issues facing his members, from the pitched battle between retirees and the city over Medicare Advantage plans to the ongoing debate over congestion pricing.

 

Peter Goodman,  minister of propaganda for unity reprinted the article on The Wire, prompting this response: 

reads like an article in The Onion. The "shrewd political instincts" of Michael Mulgrew delivered us a sub-inflation contract (aka pay cuts), an all-out attempt to move municipal employees into a for-profit Medicare Advantage Plan, and an impending watered-down healthcare plan for in-service UFT members. In May 2025 we need to vote Unity caucus and its CEO, Michael Mulgrew, out of office.

 

 What next? Mulgrew for Mt. Rushmore?

 

Arthur has been doing a daily hit on Unity and Mulgrew. 

Here is his latest:

What Union Does: In stark contrast to what Unity does

You should subscribe. And a few oldies but goodies:

 

UFT Unity's Rehabilitation Campaign

City and State paints a fawning, thoroughly incomplete portrait of Boss Mulgrew.

Arthur Goldstein

Aug 26, 2024

Unity Thinks They Own Our Union

They don't, and this must change.

Arthur Goldstein

Aug 29, 2024

Unity Prohibits a Dangerous Sign At the Labor Day Parade

Bennett Fischer, newly elected RTC Chapter Leader, had been working for weeks to get signs printed for the RTC. He had to get them approved here. He had to get them approved there. They had to be this size, not that size. You have to make sure this person knows about it. Also, don’t tell that person until that person knows. Red tape galore... On Friday, UFT Snowflake-in-Chief Michael Mulgrew told Bennett that the signs would not be acceptable. He contended all signage must be on message with the Central Labor Council's theme for the parade. So the RTC, the leadership of which was elected on the basis of opposition to Medicare Advantage, was blocked from expressing what we stand for.

Prompting this comment from Sean Ahern:

The RTC’s program to defend Medicare was blocked by UFT leadership at the rally. I think the RTC chapter will have to be more forceful in the future. It was like Unity is the Principal who just says no to the chapter leader who is representing the members grievance. Where is the pushback? I hope a plan for the Oct DA will not be so quiescent. 

Secrets of a Successful Organizer Handouts

We've made all the handouts and exercises from our best-selling book Secrets of a Successful Organizer available for download. Feel free to print them out and share them with your co-workers or use in your next union meeting. Disponible en español.